Sparkler Discusses Glidewinder and Making Happy Shoegaze

There’s something quietly distinct about Sparkler. At a time when shoegaze is increasingly drifting toward heavier sounds, the San Diego band has chosen a different path. Their music doesn’t reject intensity, but it reframes it, leaning into brightness, melody, and an emotional openness that feels almost bold within the current landscape. In our conversation, the band traced this shift to something deeply personal: a conscious move away from darker, heavier textures toward music that simply feels good to play.

Image Credit: https://alacarterecords.com/

Sparkler is back with their new album, Glidewinder, staying remarkably true to this vision with a collection of airy, dreamy, and joyful songs. In this interview, band members Chris and Tron take us behind the scenes of the recording process—from experimenting with coconut shells to "feral screams"—and walk us through the new record with an exclusive track-by-track breakdown.

We just want to make stuff a bit more happy. Something that will make people feel those good feelings. There’s enough sadness, aggression, and tension in this world and especially this country.

To start, could you introduce the current lineup of Sparkler in 2026? Who plays what, and how did this particular version of the band come together?

Tron: Sparkler came about in 2019 after the dissolution of our other band called Hug. Hug had more of a heavy, sadder vibe to it, and after Christopher got sober, he wanted to start a project that was more fun and lighter in tone. We both play guitar, I do most of the singing. Amelia, who recorded and mixed the new album, joined the band after our long-time bassist, Jesse, left. Ian is the most recent addition, we met him through our friend Kevin who plays in a band called Low Points. We asked if he was down to play drums for us for a show we got offered, he said yes and has been a part of Sparkler ever since.

A lot of the modern shoegaze scene is leaning into a heavier, grungier sound. Sparkler stands out because your music feels more uplifting, almost “happy.” What draws you to that side of the genre?

Chris: That was the aim. About 8 years ago we were in another band playing heavier, more depressing shoegaze. 7 years ago I got sober and medicated and that type of music just did not gel with how I was feeling anymore. I stopped listening to the heavier, grungier, more depressing stuff and turned to the more upbeat music of the genre. I wanted to play music that made me feel good and happier. That was the major shift and what makes Sparkler a bit more uplifting or happier.

You’ve used the term “truegaze” to describe your sound—what does that mean to you?

Chris: It was mostly just a fun made up word to describe our music. There have been so many subgenres and names for different variations of shoegaze in recent years. Truegaze is just something I came up with for fun and it suits us a bit. Our aim is to sound a bit more like the early shoegaze and it’s a nod to the true first gen shoegazers.

How has the band evolved between your last release and Glidewinder, both musically and personally?

Chris: Our last release was more so testing the waters of sound and experimenting with what we liked and what worked. A lot of it was very freeform writing, most likely to a detriment. Glidewinder was much more intentional and a bit more structured. And because it was a bit more structured, it gave us the freedom to expand upon songs rather than be more confined to what was already written. Overall, we had a better vision of what we wanted to sound like and what we wanted to experiment with more.

Tron: A lot of the songs off BSC were written during the pandemic, Chris and I had a lot of downtime that turned into songwriting time. We demo’d the songs on garageband and recorded it with a friend. I’d like to give Nick Bassett, who mixed it for us, a huge thanks for also doing some producing on those songs as it helped give them a clearer vision. We took what we learned from that entire process and applied it to Glidewinder as we really wanted to present a cohesive album.

Is there a story or specific meaning behind the title Glidewinder?

Chris: Just another fun bit of playing with words and combining them. There’s a cool old blues record by J.B. Hutto called ‘Slidewinder”, assuming because he plays slide guitar so much on the record. Because I play ‘glide guitar’ in so much of the songs, it really just worked. Plus it’s fun to say.

Are there any non-shoegaze influences (films, visual art, places, or even specific moods) that shaped Glidewinder?

Chris: Not sure if it really shaped Glidewinder, per se, but I am very into football, football culture, football fashion, football movies etc. I have also been very into dub/reggae, and 90s techno. These things may have subconsciously influenced the writing or certain parts, but i could not pinpoint a direct example.

I’ve heard the record was written and recorded over just two intense, experiment-heavy weekends. How did working within that kind of compressed timeframe shape the final sound?

Chris: It was recorded over two weekends and written over the course of two years probably. I think because we knew our time frame, everyone came super prepared and we ripped through the recording of the main instruments fairly quickly. I’m sure it helped to where we did not overthink or over analyze anything too much and maybe resulted in somewhat of a more raw sound. We finished most everything with time to spare and got to spend those extra hours experimenting with extra instruments, vocals, and adding extra nuances throughout.

Tron: We knew going in we didn’t have much time so we wanted to be able to record the bones of all the songs as soon as possible. I think Come Today was recorded in one go. Once the tracks were laid down it gave us more mental space to really throw everything else at the recordings. Amelia also had a lot to do with cultivating an environment where we were able to go nuts with ideas; Pet Hotel has a feral scream lightly buried in the outro, at one point we put huge chains on cymbals and hit those, Chris created a random percussion mallet with a skateboard wheel, I think there’s a recording of me somewhere reading the ‘Dear Sam’ letter from Jersey Shore, just fun stuff like that that we would otherwise be too scared to try.

Could you walk us through the new album track by track and briefly share the story or idea behind each song?

Slowerratic was us wanting to write something with acoustic guitar layers and different percussion like bongos, djembe, and coconut shells. There’s a Fleeting Joy’s song called ‘I Want More Life’ that starts really pretty and atmospheric and then explodes into loud guitars and chaotic drums. That song was a bit of an inspiration for this song, except we let the guitar do most of the work without the drums until the end. It ended up working well as the first track because it starts pretty tame and then at the very end the drums come in to tie everything up and introduce the record in a way.

Methadone Jesus was another fun song title. We see a lot of long haired, Jesus looking, sandak wearing drugees down by the beaches. I think everyone in Sparkler really likes this song and it’s fun to play. The lead was really fun to write. It’s so simple, but adds so much and gives it that extra push.

Last Left was titled as Last Left because it was initially the last song that was written for Big Sonic Chill and the last song left before Big Sonic Chill was finished. That clearly never happened and it was saved for this record.

Pet Hotel was a song from Tron and I’s old band that we decided to dig back up and rewrite. It changed a lot from our first version 8-9 years ago. The only part that really stayed as is was the rhythm guitar. New drums and electronic drums, new bass lines, new guitar leads, and new vocals. It was cool to see it transform to what it is now.

Such Is is a fun song and I like it more every time we play it. I wanted to write something a bit more simple with big guitars contrasting the quieter parts. I also really wanted to write something where I could fit a fun mellotron part that stood out from the rest of the instruments.

Postal is also such a simple song but was really fun to write and perform. It was just fun to write something where each instrument is introduced one by one until the intro breaks. I also really wanted to use a vocal synth patch and got a little pushback, but I love it and think it’s fun and doesn’t sound like we are trying to fake vocals too much. It was never intended to be fake vocals, it just sounds like another instrument to me and the pattern is fun.

Untitled 2 no one wanted to change the title on. There were many suggestions, but the vote stood in favor of keeping it as Untitled 2. I really enjoyed writing the rolling synth part during the bridge. It’s a bit more dry than your typical shoegaze songs, but we wanted to keep it pretty stripped down until the end comes in.

Come Today was the last song written for this record if I remember correctly. I get to do a fun thing where I stomp on my wah and phaser simultaneously for about 5 seconds before turning them both back off.

Pruning. I was most excited about the offbeat shaker way off in the distance. The ping ponging leads really take center stage and it is really fun to hear as they almost cascade in a way. The bass line also rules in the song and Chris and Amelia have to lock in with each other when played live. The bridge is just the two of them syncing up with their instruments. We don’t always get it perfectly, but it’s always fun and we get to laugh when it doesn’t pan out perfectly. The ending is also really fun because it goes from such a quiet piece, to an explosive piece. When you think its over, it goes back into the quiet and fades away.

A lot of attention is currently on East Coast scenes, especially Philly, with a grittier and heavier aesthetic. Do you feel that being based in San Diego gives your music a different atmosphere or “temperature”?

Chris: Maybe. We do live in a desert with a lot of space to fill with sound. There’s a lot of San Diego bands doing the heavier aesthetic, so it must not be a universal San Diego thing. We just want to make stuff a bit more happy. Something that will make people feel those good feelings. There’s enough sadness, aggression, and tension in this world and especially this country. While we should not forget or ignore the problems happening outside our doors, sometimes it’s nice to find a little sense of escape. We get to escape when we play these songs, and hopefully others can escape and feel good when they hear them.

Do you think shoegaze as a genre is expanding right now, or becoming more formulaic?

Chris: I think it is expanding. More often it’s expanding outside the genre these days. I think people try new things and then that becomes the new shoegaze sound. Breakbeats and drum machine sounds have been one of those hot trends lately. It’s cool to see, especially because I like 90s techno and breakbeat stuff. I just want to write songs that sound like all  my favorite bands that aren’t releasing music anymore.

Tron: I’ve played in a couple of bands before in different genres like garage rock, alternative, etc and found that shoegaze is one of the less restrictive genres out there, although folks might disagree with me. You can experiment with more stuff without people considering it a “departure” from your sound. You can try a ton of new things and people just accept it as is. It’s an ever evolving genre. Even when it first came about, no one could ever really pin it to one thing. It was always kind of up in the air.  

If you could take “truegaze” into a completely unexpected direction—outside of guitars entirely—what would that sound like?

Chris: I would use a lot of organ and mellotron sounds. I would also like to capture samples from everyday life. Whether it be traffic, trains, clock sounds, rain gutters, and other organic sounds, I’d like to use those and run them through different effects or pitch shift them and add them as a layer in songs.

Who do you think is doing the most interesting work in shoegaze right now, both in the US and internationally? Any underground artists our readers should be paying attention to?

Chris: Pure Hex. I wouldn’t pin them as shoegaze, but maybe adjacent. They’re awesome people and I love the basslines and the vocals. Highspire has been around since 2001 and just put out a record in 2025 that was my album of the year. They’ve done around one record every 8-10 years or something along those lines. The Fauns are another great band that are from the UK. They put out their first release in over 10 years in 2024. Glia’s 2023 record ‘Happens All the Time’ is amazing. That was my most listened to album in 2024 I think. There’s so many good bands and so many friends that we love, it’s hard to name them all. Highspire, The Fauns, and Glia are some deep cuts that I think are lesser known, but deserve more flowers.

Tron: In all honesty, I don't listen to a lot of shoegaze music but there are so many cool bands doing great things it’s hard to name them all. I loved the new Doused EP, it’s probably my album of the year. You can tell they were having fun with those songs and just did it for the love of the game. Softie from Oakland is another band I just stumbled upon that I really liked. Memoryloop from LA take you on a sonic journey when they play live and it’s such a cool immersive experience.